A union of unequals

Mats Persson: Viewpoint

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a joint press conference with France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on August 16, 2011 after a meeting between the two leaders on debt crisis. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the idea of issuing eurobonds to pool eurozone members’ debts was not a solution for “today,” after talks with her French counterpart. For his part, President Nicolas Sarkozy said such an instrument would put Europe’s stronger economies “in grave danger” and would only be possible at the “end of a process of integration.” AFP PHOTO/ PATRICK KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a joint press conference with France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on August 16, 2011 after a meeting between the two leaders on debt crisis. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the idea of issuing eurobonds to pool eurozone members’ debts was not a solution for “today,” after talks with her French counterpart. For his part, President Nicolas Sarkozy said such an instrument would put Europe’s stronger economies “in grave danger” and would only be possible at the “end of a process of integration.” AFP PHOTO/ PATRICK KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images

Last updated at 12:01AM, August 20 2012

In the desperate search for the euro’s saviour, all eyes have turned to the concept of a “banking union”. Regardless of whether it is a good idea or a bad idea, banking union will undoubtedly cut not only to the heart of a key UK industry — financial services — but also the wider issue of Britain’s future in the EU in the face of further eurozone integration.

However, the typical response of City people, or those in Whitehall for that matter, is confused. On the one hand they love the idea, seeing it as a backstop for shaky eurozone banks that

It is understandable that the construction of an air-polluting,
noise-blighting £22 billion third runway to turn Heathrow into the world’s
pre-eminent superhub caught the eye, but the Davies report into airport
expansion also made another radical suggestion: that — third runway or not —
Heathrow should start acting like the UK hub that it pretends to be